A Community-Focused Health & Work Service (HWS)

We recommend establishment of a community-focused Health & Work Service (HWS) dedicated to responding rapidly to new health-related work absence among working people due to potentially disabling conditions. The first few days and weeks after onset are an especially critical period during which the likelihood of a good long-term outcome is being influenced, either favorably or unfavorably, by some simple things that either do or do not happen during that interval. It is the optimal window of opportunity to improve outcomes by simultaneously attending to the worker’s basic needs and concerns as well as coordinating the medical, functional restoration, and occupational aspects of the situation in a coordinated fashion

Ready Educators Quality Improvement Pilot: Linking Program Improvement to Child Outcomes

This report is an evaluation of the first year of the Ready Educators Quality Improvement Pilot (REQIP), part of Thrive in 5's city-wide Ready Educators strategy. The pilot provided technical assistance and support to early education and care programs in centers and family child care homes that serve children from birth to age five. The REQIP theory of change posits that, to meet the goal of improved child outcomes, programs need to build "sustainable independent capacity to operationalize a continuous quality improvement process (CQI)." As the Pilot was envisioned, CQI involved the development of a Program Improvement Plan (PIP) through an assessment based on child-level and program data and with support from a Quality Improvement Partner (QIP). The PIP would then serve as the basis for technical assistance to meet the goals of the PIP, followed by a re-assessment using program and childlevel data. This CQI process would be sustained over time, in an ongoing continuous loop. In July 2013, after a competitive RFP process and with funding from the Barr Foundation, Thrive in 5 selected Wellesley Centers for Women to serve as the QIP

Synthesis of Technical Requirements and Considerations for Automated Snowplow Route Optimization: Final Report

DOTs and other transportation agencies are increasingly using automated methods for snowplow route optimization, which have been demonstrated to produce significant savings when they result in the implementation of new routes. However, many route optimization projects have fallen short of implementation due to technical/operational issues with the routes produced or institutional barriers to change. These shortcomings can be substantially mitigated with improvements to the process of soliciting, selecting, and managing the route optimization software or service provider. This project’s objective was to provide DOTs with the tools needed to make these improvements. The key lessons from this project are provided in two complementary documents: a Decision Support Guidance document and a Contracting Language Template. The Decision Support Guidance provides DOT staff with an accessible and in-depth discussion of the technical requirements for route optimization and the key decisions DOTs should consider when developing the project scope and managing a provider. The Contracting Language Template provides DOTs with a flexible template to assist with the development of a scope of work for a Request for Proposals (RFP) for automated snowplow route optimization services. The language suggested in the Contracting document is intended to ensure that DOTs and service providers have a shared understanding of the scope of work that the DOT requires and to maximize the likelihood that the project will result in safe, feasible, implementation-ready routes

Sub-State Purchasing of Managed Behavioral Health Care: An Analysis of County-Level Managed Care Contracts

For this study, SAMHSA asked us to analyze county-level managed health care contracts that include behavioral health services. SAMHSA has indicated that sub-state entities, particularly counties, are beginning to explore the feasibility of contracting with managed care organizations, both to control costs and to improve coordination of services for the mental health or substance abuse systems they manage. In commissioning these various contract studies, SAMHSA was primarily interested in tracking the development of these new types of managed behavioral health care procurements and contracting practices, as well as determining whether there were exemplary commercial behavioral health provisions that could be adapted to public sector contracts

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation: Transforming a Public Safety Net Delivery System to Achieve Higher Performance

Describes the results of the public benefit corporation's improvement initiatives -- a common clinical information system for continuity, coordination on chronic disease management, teamwork and continuous innovation, and access to appropriate care

2020 Annual EQRO Technical Report

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-dept-human-services-tenncare-additional-reports/1006/thumbnail.jp

Study of Alternative Methods of Managing Dental Contract Health Services

There are differences in the scope of dental fudiciary services provided by Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BC/BS) carriers, the for-profit dental insurance companies, and Delta Dental Plans. The objectives of this study are: 1) to evaluate a sample of dental third party administrators (TPAs) capable of managing a national contract for management of Indian Health Service (IHS) dental Contract Health Services (CHS); 2) to evaluate options for IHS Areas and service facilities to manage the dental CHS program; 3) to document requirements of P.L. 93-638 tribes and tribal organizations with regard to management of dental CHS programs; 4) to develop a scope of work (SOW) for a national TPA contract to manage reimbursement for IHS dental CHS resources; 5) to develop a model SOW for FI contracts to manage reimbursement for tribally-managed Dental CHS services; and 6) to develop a model Provider Agreement to facilitate contracting for dental services and assure the delivery of quality services and standards. This project was a case study with interviews of key informants in a variety of organizations including: 1) TPAs; 2) IHS Area Offices and Service Units; and 3) tribes operating dental programs under P.L. 93-638 contracts with IHS. Site visits were made to BC/BS organizations in New Mexico and Michigan; Delta Dental Plans in California, Michigan, and Oklahoma; IHS Area offices and IHS and tribally-managed facilities in Albuquerque, Bemidji, California, Navajo, Oklahoma, and Portland Areas.The results indicated that the TPAs are generally strong in the areas studied: 1) administration and management; 2) claims processing; and 3) quality assurance. The TPAs often provide services that cannot be duplicated by IHS. It seems likely many TPAs would respond to an RFP to provide management and FI services for the IHS dental program. Quality assurance and data systems supporting dental CHR are uneven across IHS Areas. The study revealed four major problem area with Tribal Dental CHS: 1) inadequate information and reporting systems; 2) inadequate documentation of program procedures and associated dependence on individual program managers; 3) inadequate support for contracting and negotiating costs with local providers; and 4) a potential for fraud and abuse.Recommendations are provided in the areas of: 1) national fiscal intermediary contract; 2) valid uses of dental CHS resources; 3) dental CHS budget; 4) provider agreements; 5) quality assurance and appropriateness of care; and 6) tribal participation in fiscal intermediary contract

Privacy and Cloud Computing in Public Schools

Today, data driven decision-making is at the center of educational policy debates in the United States. School districts are increasingly turning to rapidly evolving technologies and cloud computing to satisfy their educational objectives and take advantage of new opportunities for cost savings, flexibility, and always-available service among others. As public schools in the United States rapidly adopt cloud-computing services, and consequently transfer increasing quantities of student information to third-party providers, privacy issues become more salient and contentious. The protection of student privacy in the context of cloud computing is generally unknown both to the public and to policy-makers. This study thus focuses on K-12 public education and examines how school districts address privacy when they transfer student information to cloud computing service providers. The goals of the study are threefold: first, to provide a national picture of cloud computing in public schools; second, to assess how public schools address their statutory obligations as well as generally accepted privacy principles in their cloud service agreements; and, third, to make recommendations based on the findings to improve the protection of student privacy in the context of cloud computing. Fordham CLIP selected a national sample of school districts including large, medium and small school systems from every geographic region of the country. Using state open public record laws, Fordham CLIP requested from each selected district all of the district’s cloud service agreements, notices to parents, and computer use policies for teachers. All of the materials were then coded against a checklist of legal obligations and privacy norms. The purpose for this coding was to enable a general assessment and was not designed to provide a compliance audit of any school district nor of any particular vendor.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/clip/1001/thumbnail.jp

The East Baltimore Revitalization Initiative: A Commitment to Economic Inclusion

Describes the first phase of a twenty-year, cross-sector effort to transform a distressed neighborhood into a mixed-income residential community and provide job opportunities for minorities and women; achievements to date; challenges; and lessons learned